Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School (Hamilton, Ontario)

Last updated
Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School
Address
Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School (Hamilton, Ontario)
1715 Main Street East

, ,
Canada
Coordinates 43°14′15″N79°47′45″W / 43.237422°N 79.795696°W / 43.237422; -79.795696
Information
School type Secondary school
Established1967
School board Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board
SuperintendentLaura Romano
Area trusteeRay Mulholland
PrincipalChristine Nicolaides [1]
Vice-principal(s)
  • Peter Sheahan
  • Jessie Zsiros



Grades 9–12
EnrolmentApprox. 1100 students (as of 2010)
LanguageEnglish
Campus type Suburban
Colour(s)Scarlet and silver   
Song"Churchill School Song"
Mascot Bulldog
Website www.hwdsb.on.ca/sirwinstonchurchill/

Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School is a Canadian secondary school located in Hamilton, Ontario. It is a member of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. The school's mission statement is "Educating students to become lifelong learners and contributing citizens in a challenging, changing, multi-cultural world." Apart from the standard course offerings, the school provides special education classes and an ESL program.

Contents

History

Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School was founded in 1967 as part of a plan by the Board of Education for the City of Hamilton to have enough schools available to meet the demand of the baby boomers. In 1972, the school became Hamilton's pilot school in the semester system style of schedule that had been showing positive increases in student achievement amongst schools in Alberta and British Columbia. The school was named after Sir Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II.

The school gained notoriety in the fall of 1987, as it became one of a handful of schools suggested for transfer to the Hamilton Wentworth District Separate School Board. Under a controversial law, which extended public funding to the Catholic school system in Ontario, arbitration suggested that the Winona Secondary School and Churchill be transferred to the Catholic school board, as a measure to address overcrowding among their secondary schools. The protests led to a demonstration at Queen's Park, where groups of secondary school students from the Hamilton and surrounding area, all converged in front of the Ontario Legislature building. Despite the protests, the province accepted the findings of the arbitration. Over the summer of 1988, negotiations between the School Board for the City of Hamilton and the Hamilton Wentworth District Separate School Board resulted in the transfer of Elizabeth Bagshaw School to become the new home of Bishop Ryan Catholic Secondary School, until the 2014 opening of their new building on Rymal Road at Upper Mount Albion Road.

Incidents

2019 stabbing death of Grade 9 student

On October 7, 2019, 14-year-old Grade 9 student Devan Bracci-Selvey was stabbed to death in front of his mother outside Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School by four fellow students. Bracci-Selvey's mother had driven to the school to pick up her son around 1:30PM after he called to say other students at the school had been bothering him. She arrived and saw a group of students taunting Bracci-Selvey and spraying him with an unknown substance, thought to be bear mace. The group hunted the boy down a sidewalk as he fled with his mother following in her vehicle. A 16 year-old girl repeatedly taunted Bracci-Selvey demanding he hit her, to which he replied, "I can’t hit you, I wasn’t raised that way." These were the last words his mother would hear from her son alive. Bracci-Selvey attempted to rush over to enter his mother's vehicle but was swarmed and stabbed. A group of student bystanders witnessed the entire incident, recording the murder live on their cell phones, which police later sought to have turned over as evidence and not shared on social media. [2] [3]

The slain student's sister wrote on a GoFundMe fundraiser for Devan's funeral that her brother was a "shy, quiet, [helpful] kid who had tried get help with the bullying he was experiencing." Bracci-Selvey was fond of cars, video games, and animals, had dreams of becoming a mechanic, and was excited to become an uncle for the second time. Bracci-Selvey, as per his mother, “protected everybody” and never hesitated to stick up for friends when they were being harassed. Citing the age of the victim and suspects as well as an ongoing investigation, police would not comment on nor confirm speculation and reports surrounding possible motives and the nature of the confirmed "existing relationship" between the victim and the accused. Relatives, including the boy's mother, who spoke to Global News and CP24, confirmed Bracci-Selvey was relentlessly bullied since beginning high school a month earlier and their concerns were dismissed by school officials who deemed there was "insufficient evidence to take action." Bracci-Selvey had begun skipping classes, attending school part-time before calling and asking to be picked up, or refusing to go to school in the mornings as a result of the bullying. [4] [5]

Two brothers, a 14-year-old and an 18-year-old, were arrested after the incident and later charged with first-degree murder following a preliminary investigation by Hamilton Police Service. A third individual was arrested but “was interviewed and later released unconditionally once [their] involvement in the investigation was established.” On October 8, 2019, police had announced a 16-year-old male and a 16-year-old female, outstanding suspects, were also arrested and taken into custody on suspicion of first-degree murder. On October 9, 2019, both were released without charge after being questioned lengthily about the homicide. Detective-Sergeant Steve Bereziuk noted in a media release that "based on evidence there is some element of pre-planning […] and premeditation [involved with] this homicide." [6] [7] [8] [9]

A crisis response intervention team, social workers, police liaison officers, wellness counsellors, and extra staff support for teachers and administrators were sent to the school following the incident. As public frustration and anger grew against the perceived inaction of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) leading up to the incident, Director of Education Manny Figueiredo advised CBC News that "an investigation into what happened [would] get underway once the police investigation wraps [up]." After the stabbing, Figueiredo felt the school was still "the safest place for a kid to be right now [as] a lot of [students] want to be together, they want to be with their friends and talk and make sense and deal with their grief" even as many parents kept their children home from school in the days after the stabbing. When pressed specifically on the bullying Bracci-Selvey endured and what the school did in response, Figueiredo said he was not aware of what led up to the violence and instead advocated for a community-oriented response. Figueiredo encouraged students who do not feel safe, or have not felt safe in the past, to raise their concerns with adults. [10] [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairview Mall</span> Shopping mall in Toronto

Fairview Mall is a large shopping centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada of about 80,000 m2 (860,000 sq ft). Opened in 1970, the centre has over 180 stores, offices and a cinema complex. It is located several kilometres north-east of downtown, at the northeast corner of Don Mills Road and Sheppard Avenue East in the former city of North York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Joseph Secondary School (Mississauga)</span> Separate high school in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

St. Joseph Secondary School, colloquially known as St. Joe's, is a Catholic high school located in the East Credit community of Mississauga, Ontario. The school is administered by the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board. It is one of few schools in Ontario to offer Pre-Advanced Placement courses starting in grade 9; most schools offer the option of Advanced Placement (AP) level classes in grade 12. Students who graduate in any course with an AP level exam completed will earn university-level credits in the course. The school is also a provider of the Business and Transportation Specialist High Skills Majors (SHSM), granting students who complete the major with an Ontario Secondary School Diploma including a recognized seal for employment opportunities after graduation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School (Vancouver)</span> Secondary school in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School is a public secondary school located in Vancouver, British Columbia. Churchill Secondary is one of three International Baccalaureate schools and one of three French immersion secondary schools in Vancouver. It is named after Winston Churchill, the former prime minister of the United Kingdom. Churchill has the largest student body population in district 39 with about 2000 students in the campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Mills Collegiate Institute</span> High school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Don Mills Collegiate Institute is a high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in the Don Mills neighbourhood, it serves an ethnically diverse student population of approximately 1000. As of 2017, 67% of students speak a first language other than English. The school opened in 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute</span> High school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute is a semestered English-language high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in the Bendale neighbourhood of the district of Scarborough. It was originally sanctioned by the Scarborough Board of Education and since 1998 under its successor board, the Toronto District School Board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board</span> Public school board

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB), formerly known as English-language Public District School Board No. 21 prior to 1999, is the public school board for the city of Hamilton. Established on January 1, 1998, via the amalgamation of the Hamilton and Wentworth County school boards, the board currently operates 93 elementary and secondary schools.

Hall Garth Community Arts College, originally Hall Garth School, was a secondary school in Acklam, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School (St. Catharines)</span> Secondary school in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada

Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School is a Canadian secondary school located in St. Catharines, Ontario. It is one of eight public secondary schools in the city, and is situated in the community of Glenridge. The secondary school is known for their competitive sports, extremely strong academics, arts, their bulldog mascot and extensive list of extracurriculars. It is administered by the District School Board of Niagara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Main Street (Hamilton, Ontario)</span>

Main Street is a street in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Dominicans Don't Play (143) is a Dominican-American street gang started in Manhattan, New York in 1991. They are known for primarily using machetes and knives as weapons. DDP is located across New York City, particularly in the Bronx, Harlem and the Lower East Side. They are also located in New Jersey, cities such as like Union City, North Bergen, Paterson, Passaic, Elizabeth, Jersey City, Perth Amboy, and South Amboy. They are also located overseas in various countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Marcellinus Secondary School</span> Catholic high school located in Mississauga, Ontario

St. Marcellinus Secondary School is a Catholic high school located in Mississauga, Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cairine Wilson Secondary School</span> School in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Cairine Wilson Secondary School is an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board high school in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is the main English-language school in the eastern suburb of Orleans. It is located on 975 Orleans Boulevard in the northern edge of the suburb, near the Ottawa River. The school opened in 1975. It was named after Cairine Wilson, Canada's first female Senator.

A series of uncoordinated mass stabbings, hammer attacks, and cleaver attacks in the People's Republic of China began in March 2010. The spate of attacks left at least 90 dead and some 473 injured. As most cases had no known motive, analysts have blamed mental health problems caused by rapid social change for the rise in these kinds of mass murder and murder-suicide incidents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spring High School stabbing</span> Stabbing attack in Texas, United States

On September 4, 2013, one student was killed and three others were wounded in a stabbing attack at Spring High School in Spring, Texas, United States. A 17-year-old student, identified as Luis Alonzo Alfaro, was arrested and charged for the murder. In September 2014, Alfaro was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

On April 15, 2014, Matthew de Grood, son of Calgary Police Inspector Doug de Grood, stabbed five young adults to death at a house party in the Brentwood neighbourhood of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The party was several blocks away from the University of Calgary campus, and held to mark the end of its school year. It was Calgary's deadliest massacre.

On 6–7 April 2017, two teenage boys aged 15 and 16 went on a rampage in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia, first stabbing a service station attendant to death, then violently attacking four people in a spree that continued for several hours. The attacks were investigated by Australia's Joint Counter Terrorism Task Force as a possible terrorism-related crime. On 1 May 2020 both males were sentenced. The older received a jail term of 35 years and 6 months, while the younger received 18 years and 4 months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Toronto van attack</span> Canadian van attacks in Toronto

A vehicle-ramming attack occurred on April 23, 2018, when a rented van was driven along Yonge Street through the North York City Centre business district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The driver, 25-year-old Alek Minassian, targeted pedestrians, killing 11 and injuring 15, some critically. The incident is the deadliest vehicle-ramming attack in Canadian history.

Devan Bracci-Selvey was a 14-year-old ninth-grade student at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School who was stabbed to death outside the school by a fellow student in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, on 7 October 2019.

A misogynist terrorist attack in a Toronto erotic spa took place on 24 February 2020.

References

  1. "Contact | Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School".
  2. Drolet, Mike (October 8, 2019). "Boy murdered outside Hamilton school; 2 teens charged". Global News. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  3. Wilson, Codi (October 9, 2019). "Mom who saw son stabbed to death outside Hamilton high school says she 'tried to save him'". CP24. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  4. Drolet, Mike (October 8, 2019). "Boy murdered outside Hamilton school; 2 teens charged". Global News. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  5. Wilson, Codi (October 9, 2019). "Mom who saw son stabbed to death outside Hamilton high school says she 'tried to save him'". CP24. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  6. Wilson, Codi (October 8, 2019). "Police ID victim stabbed to death outside Hamilton high school; 4 teens in custody". CP24. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  7. Westoll, Nick (October 8, 2019). "4 suspects to face 1st-degree murder charge after teen fatally stabbed outside Hamilton high school". Global News. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  8. Polewski, Lisa (October 8, 2019). "'We need to talk': School board speaks to fatal stabbing at Hamilton school". Global News. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  9. Taekema, Dan (October 9, 2019). "2 teens arrested in stabbing death of Hamilton student released". CBC News. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  10. Taekema, Dan (October 7, 2019). "14-year-old student fatally stabbed outside Sir Winston Churchill high school". CBC News. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  11. Rankin, Christine (October 9, 2019). "Students and staff grapple with grief at Hamilton high school after fatal stabbing". CBC News. Retrieved October 9, 2019.

43°14′15″N79°47′41″W / 43.237588°N 79.794613°W / 43.237588; -79.794613